St. John’s Roof
Dear Friends,
Even though a major snow storm is in the works for the next few days, there is no question that Spring is on the way as the days grow longer, the tips of crocuses poke through the muddy ground, and the temperature doesn’t seem quite as severe!
It also means that we will be nearing the completion of the roof replacement at St. John’s Church in St. Eleanors.
Parishioner Stephen MacNeill with son, Sam. Stephen graciously built this wonderful sign to let the community know how our fundraiser was going!
About a year ago we began to realize the dire state of the roof of St. John’s, with many little holes beaming light into the attic, and skylight seen through parts of the peak. Obviously this risked compromising the entire building, but most especially the plasterwork that hangs over our heads on Sunday mornings. Council embarked on a fundraising campaign to replace the roof, which included selling space for names on a piece of roof that will act as a memorial, giving the community who share and enjoy the St. Eleanors streetscape and St. John’s place in it an opportunity to give, and many chances besides these to help with the considerable expense.
One of the challenges was that the spire also needed to be re-roofed, and after a drone-trip up there we realized that the roof of the tower need reshingling as well. As soon as the ground begins to dry and harden the roofers will return to finish the spire - a considerable and difficult task given its pitch and the surrounding gravestones which make the placement of equipment difficult.
As the main roof was being finished we realized that we were short of our fundraising goal and made an application to the Anglican Foundation of Canada - a foundation which supports ministries of all kinds throughout the Anglican Church of Canada, and happily we were selected as a recipient for 2022 and awarded a considerable grant that would finish up the remainder of the main roof and cover some of the extra costs of finishing the spire! We are grateful for the work of the AFC and for their generous support of St. John’s and our new roof!
We will be keeping this updated as work progresses, so check back soon!
